Unheard of, I know.
No. This is not about Jeremy Lin in case you already started oh-my-goshing. In reality, I am not writing about the game even. I cannot analyze it for the life of me. After watching a tutorial and a slow-mo video on the pick-and-roll, I confirmed that my brain just does not have much capacity for strategy, and so you are left with my usual um, "unique way" (to make it sound more glam) of analyzing the world around me, perhaps much more sensitive than what you would normally pick out from, in this case, the game of basketball. Watching basketball (and any professional sports for the matter) has taught me a few things - not exactly a recent discovery, but definitely accentuated in this all-sorts-of-bizarre NBA season, especially with Linsanity flying around.
I actually like the sport itself, although I never expressed it too much. I love the ball-handling, the pace, the plays (even though I cannot comprehend or appreciate them to their full extent)! But I intensely dislike players and fans with bad attitudes. I suppose it is more evident in basketball than in soccer because of close body contact, though I have seen some pretty foul plays and players in the world of fútbol. At the end of the day, I do not have a strong enough passion for the sport to negate or overlook the problematic attitudes that come with it. This factor has been a huge turn-off for my watching of professional sports. Character speaks a lot. Even if the player possesses unmatchable skills, an unparalleled attitude will drop em' to zero in my book (not to say that there isn't room to grow and change, which also ironically reveals how harsh fans or antifans can be with their comments on such players - also a dislike). On the flip side, players with good sportsmanship, players who demonstrate good team work and have respectful attitudes can make me appreciate the game ten folds, easy.
This problema does not solely make its way through the professionals, but also the fans. BOO-ing fans, in my opinion, are unarguably rude and
immature regardless of their boo-ing target. Obviously, it is even
worse if you are boo-ing your own team on your home court (as you can see I started this post way long ago when the Knicks fans were boo-ing Melo at MSG)! Maybe I take it
too seriously, but isn't it just like any "relationship"? You walk
alongside, you grow with, you speak truth in love to build up but do not
seek to tear down (although some really do need a whoopin' get-your-act-right with their obnoxiously dirty plays). I definitely do not fully understand the artistry of
the game, but if "band-wagoner fans" or even "loyal fans" for the
matter are defined as such, then I would rather not be one.
Half way through my grumbling and annoyance towards boo-ing fans and attitude-rampaged players, without any attempts on my part (because what the heck! I wasn't even
finished with my eye-rolling session yet), God directed my thoughts
towards Him and reminded me about two things:
UNO Authenticity. Even if you have all the skills one could ever ask for on the court, what do those mount up to if you have no character? Similarly, I was reminded of the trues of 1 Cor 13: "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing...", then Paul goes on to explain what love is and should be. So even with all the talents and skill sets that God has so graciously given, it boils down to nothing if there is not love. I truly, truly believe that the only way to live out such authenticity is when a life is lived for an audience of One (Gal 1:10). It is something that shines from the inside out. Food for thought: so what if I am gifted as a leader? So what if I am a prominent figure in the church? So what if I render myself as one who loves the lost and has a deep compassion for the underprivileged? So what if I feel like a nobody and mask that with false humility? And in all of these "so-what's", if I lack the authenticity of Christ, am I not a sheer hypocrite? Not practicing what I preach is what it is! This is definitely a life-long lesson and undoubtedly a daily battle as the sinful nature seems to have perfected the skill in robbing God of the Glory He alone deserves. Thankfully though, we can have confidence that this desire for self-glorification and hypocritical living is not binding :) and in the midst of our day-to-day struggles, we can claim the promise of God: that He who began a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6)! Moving along the same train of thought, but on a different note, I was reminded to see others through the lens of God - sometimes very difficult for me as I can get QUITE WORKED UP by various kinds and levels of injustices - from injustices on the court all the way to global issues. And in the end, it comes down to a humbling realization that God. chose to save. even ME. of all people.
DOS Agape Love. For a genuinely loyal fan, I do not know if the level of support should waiver on account of the team's performance (that is probably where we get the notorious band-wagoners), but the reality is, a star can fall as quick as he rises. Praise the Lord that He does not act according to our performance like fans and media do... Imagine a God whose blessings and
wrath rest upon our performance and how up to par we are against His
standards. Good grief! BUT GOD, knowing the depths of our depravity, still loves us the same - so much that He sent Christ to die on our behalf... now THAT is really something. Eph 2:8-9.
Sorry for an abrupt end. Hope my spaghetti-brained train of thoughts did not confuse anybody, or even for my future-self. By now, I am sure you had already picked up on my gathering and processing of information into life-lessons type of habit. I hope it doesn't get too serious or weighty for you all. It is just one amazing and tangible (but sometimes a bit overwhelming) channel that God uses to disciple me after His own heart and to interweave Himself into my life beyond meals and devos. It is especially crazy for one who grew up not thinking too deeply about anything... so I definitely cannot take the credit for this massive influx of "epiphanies" as of late. They just kind of. Happen. Mind you that I only jot down approximately half, if not less, of what floats around in my mind... as if my posts weren't long enough already... ha.
In all seriousness, after a disheartening losing streak of 6, the Knicks are back up with 3 wins in a row! Let's go Knicks! FYI, having moved around so much, I have no regional loyalty whatsoever so do not get on my case for band-wagonning for a Nuu Yawk team when I am clearly not a NY resident, YET (i hope).
the "yet", I will save for another post. But to ease you (and to clear my name), NO I do not want to reside in NY because of the Knicks or Jlin (though those are velly awesome bonuses), and despite my love for them, NO I do not plan on paying $100 to watch a game at MSG in the nosebleed* section, especially when I can pay $100ish for a VIP SECTION in Wang Lee Hom's concert... come on now. I still got my priorities straight 8]
* I am SO noob that I only recently acquired this terminology in the context of sports (as in yesterday). To my own embarrassment and for your entertainment, I thought it made much more sense that the nosebleed section fall under "VIP" seats up front - you know, you get smacked by the ball, or crushed by a player flying in your way - which could potentially result in a bad nosebleed or a nose break for that matter. Wikipedia's definition of the nosebleed section appears to be much more academic and legit compared to my silly "logic" though...
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